


The Fourth Sister

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Caring, Daydreaming, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, F/M, Fear of Discovery, First Kiss, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Isolation, Late Night Conversations, Loneliness, One-Sided Attraction, Party, Pre-Earth Transformers, Questions, Romance, Self Confidence Issues, Sparring, Tenderness, Training, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 03:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4650897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a rather lonely mech watching Optimus, Powerglide, and Ironhide love their femmes, Inferno makes a list.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fourth Sister

The ping of blaster fire and the hum of vibroblades dimly reached Inferno’s audials, but it didn’t alarm him as much as it could have, for the sounds were mixed with surprised exclamations and feminine laughter. Optimus, Ironhide, and Powerglide were sparring, cheered on by their sweetsparks. And…their sweetsparks’ sister.

Inferno, leaning against a balcony railing overlooking the sparring ring, let a smile cross his face, but he could feel that it was a sad or perhaps regretful one. Sighing, he wandered toward the chair and table set up in one corner, picking up the data pad he’d been perusing earlier and taking it back to the rail.

The reading still looked just as boring as before, he noted, another heavier sigh trailing as fog from his vents into the cold air. He paused for a few kliks before acting on impulse and clearing the page, his fingers flying as all the pent-up questions in him surfaced on the screen.

_What if I were a warrior instead of a rescue worker?_

_What if I were equipped with guns instead of a foam dispenser?_

_What if I had more blue or gray or white on my armor?_

_What if I could fly?_

_What if I was taller?_

_What if I was braver?_

_What if I was more like Optimus or Ironhide or Powerglide?_

_What if—_

Before he could finish—rather, before he could even come close to finishing, he heard the voice of Powerglide’s femme, Moonracer, as she came up the stairs leading toward the balcony.

“Inferno! Ironhide wanted to see if you would spar with him!”

Panicking, Inferno set the data pad on the balcony rail and raced to intercept Moonracer, calling, “I’m comin’, I’m comin’!” In his hurry he wasn’t there to see the data pad slide and tumble off the railing toward the ground below.

—

The next orn, when Cybertron’s sun was starting to wane, Inferno wavered about joining the dinner Optimus was hosting, even though he’d been invited. The company was as good as it always was and the food was probably decent, but just when he started to consider moving forward instead of back, the dancing started. Watching Ironhide boldly take the hand of the fourth sister and spin with her across the room, both laughing in glee…that clinched it for him.

Slipping away from the light of the party, Inferno walked until the music was just a faint echo and then sat, folding his arms, shuttering his optics and leaning against the ambiguous wall behind him in an attempt to relax. The lingering memory of the others’ joy—without him—made it difficult.

 _If she an’ I weren’t already strangers to each other, I might worry about our standing_ , he mused sadly, hunching a little further into himself.

This tightly held position made it an even larger reaction when he startled, taken off guard when something tapped against his left leg. Firestar laughed briefly and waved with a touch of shyness, sitting in front of him and nodding to what rested on his knee. Inferno followed her gaze to see a data pad, dented and with a crack in the screen, but he could tell an attempt had been made to patch it up.

Inferno picked up the pad, stilling himself when his frame shivered with nervousness and something else he wouldn’t dare to name. When he focused past the cracked screen, he saw the list he had made before, but it had some revisions.

_What if I were a warrior instead of a rescue worker?_

**_I would miss working with you._ **

_What if I were equipped with guns instead of a foam dispenser?_

**_You impress me without trying._ **

_What if I had more blue or gray or white on my armor?_

**_I would forget how vibrant red is on you._ **

_What if I could fly?_

**_It would be harder to pick you out among the stars._ **

_What if I was taller?_

**_You’re already a foot taller than me; I’d like it if you weren’t two._ **

_What if I was braver?_

**_You save innocent lives without a nanoklik of fear about risking your own._ **

_What if I was more like Optimus or Ironhide or Powerglide?_

**_I’d prefer it if you weren’t._ **

_What if—_

**_I’ll tell you once I know how this one ends._ **

“I—I—” Inferno stammered, embarrassment flooding heat to his outer plating and spark. He didn’t dare look up at the femme, at least until she tilted his chin up with one hand.

“This was never a contest, Inferno,” Firestar stated, her tone solemn and her optics soft. “My sisters are happy with their mechs. And my spark is on fire for _you_.” So saying, she tugged him in for a gentle kiss, lingering when he smiled faintly and returned it.

“It’s a fire I’m never puttin’ out, sweetspark,” he whispered, weaving their hands together and rising to escort her back to the gathering for their first dance.


End file.
